Chapter 16: The Chivalrous Organization
New
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Shion finished scanning the invitation, before setting it back on the table and folding her arms. "Doesn't feel great," she admitted.
Momoka shrugged. "It was our objective to make contact with the Iron Yakuza, and more specifically their lead informant. This is more or less what we wanted to happen."
Kenzō had a hand resting on his chin. "Already knowing our names, though? It's one thing for us to come to them and negotiate information. It's another thing for them to already have all our information…"
Still pensive, Momoka glanced at the window that was currently shuttered. "They may employ those who possess skills much greater than our own. Still, I can't imagine how they could've obtained our information. No one in these lands knows of our identities, and we aren't nearly notorious enough to have earned a bingo book entry by now. Mmm… equipment?"
Shion cocked an eyebrow, before belatedly nodding comprehension. "Hm? Ah, yeah. We can see if anything's missing or rifled through." Though, you'd have to be some sort of idiot to just leave critical intel lying around like that.
Not having found a hint of interference, they decided it was for the best to meet at the offered time. After having come all this way, simply turning and leaving seemed like a waste. Not to mention that there was now someone who possessed information on them, and souring relations immediately seemed like a quick route to hunter-nin sniffing around. At the very least, hopefully they could discern how the Yakuza obtained that info.
Deep in dead town, the trio found their quarry. A small courtyard resplendent with gardens and fountainworks was encircled by a collection of fancy, prestigious buildings - at a glance, a bathhouse, an inn, an amphitheater, and largest of all, the Pink Lotus Casino. It looked to be at least four stories, and when virtually everything else was a single floor, it towered over the surrounding town. Its smooth white stone was accented by jade and pink floral decor, a color scheme reflected in the rest of the courtyard.
Waiting outside were Kenta and Chika, the middle aged couple Momoka had met the day before. They introduced themselves to Kenzō and Shion, and Kenta continued, "You can think of us like the Oyabun's left and right hand. As he wills it, we carry it out. But if you need to pass something along to him, feel free to filter it through me or my beautiful wife."
Kenzō's polite smile could not look any more tacked on. Momoka would need to talk to him about that, especially after all the ribbing he gave her about working on her stealth capabilities.
As they were led inside, a wide, open floor came into view, with a scattering of tables strewn about, bearing card games of all sorts, many of which Momoka had never seen before. "Do you guys have Greedy Gut?" Momoka asked.
"Eh?" Kenta asked, confused, clearly still thinking about their imminent meeting with the Oyabun. Her teammates stared at her with a mixture of exasperation and bemusement.
"Nevermind…"
They were led behind one of the bars, Chika snagging a drink as they walked by. Dipping into a small hallway, they finally emerged in an office, of sorts. It was more akin to a lounge than an office, though it did possess a large wooden desk upon which all sorts of things were piled up. Folders, bottles, blades, powders, and books just to name a few. Momoka's eyes were drawn to the couches, where an older man with long silvered hair sat in a tactful, dark green kimono.
Not going to bother, his socials would annihilate the group. He will be much better at prying info from them than they will be from him. Try not to take everything at face value, or maybe it's true. Who knows :^)
They bowed, following Chika and Kenta's lead, and the man inclined his head and rolled his hand a bit. "Yes, it's an honor and et cetera. Go ahead and take a seat, why don't you?"
They sat. Kenta and Chika exited, holding hands and sharing their stolen drink.
"My name is Yamamoto Tadashi. Let's stick to the professional names when in public, but otherwise, feel free to call me Tadashi. As I understand it, you're here to see my brother, Tetsuya."
They exchanged looks with each other. Finally, Shion said, "Yes, that's correct. Might we ask how you have so much info on us already?"
Tadashi sighed. "Normally, I like to keep it a bit of a surprise, but with the operations we've got going on…" He sipped from his drink. "Consider it a bonus for taking the job."
"You have an offer for us already?" Kenzō asked.
"Naturally, though, we're getting ahead of ourselves. What is it you seek to know?"
Shion shrugged. "Nothing that would surprise you, more than likely. Info on where we can locate things to increase our own personal power and prestige, general news of the goings-on of the Elemental Nations, and so on."
"A standard shinobi answer," Tadashi agreed. "Though, personal power and prestige tend to be among the more expensive trades when it comes to information. Some of my employees may be willing to offer tutelage you'd find useful, though I tend to leave such negotiations to them."
"We're tentatively open to performing a job or two on behalf of your organization, depending on what it is," Momoka said. Wouldn't be prudent to commit quite yet, but it was what they were here for, more or less. "What did you have in mind?"
"Hmph. To the point, I see. Before I make any offers of my own, I want it to be clear that we have already begun vetting you or you wouldn't have even been invited here. Yet, there are things about you that I would like to verify before recruiting you into our operations."
Shion said, "With respect… some of that info is, essentially, currency we could be spending with Tetsuya…"
Tadashi stroked his neatly trimmed beard and nodded. "Fair enough. I'll put in word with him, consider yourselves compensated for it. Now, as I understand it, you come from the Village Hidden in the Rain. Do you still owe them allegiance?"
Kenzō cleared his throat. That isn't info they would be able to hide for long. In fact, it was entirely possible the Oyabun already knew the answer and was testing them.
"...no," Kenzō replied, in a quiet voice.
"If I were to tell you that we would be operating against them, would this cause issues amongst you three?" None of them spoke, and he continued. "Well, they indoctrinate you so young, I guess I shouldn't be surprised if, even now, there is some lingering loyalty."
"They don't indoctrinate us," Shion started sharply. "They- ahem. Sorry."
Tadashi nodded his acceptance. "Regardless, we do not currently have any operations involving Rain, so don't fret. I just need to get an understanding of anyone under my employ. You betrayed your home for one reason or another, and I understand that hunter-nin can be quite persistent. I won't shield you, per se. I will, however, assist you in hiding if so desired. Many of my employees are loathe to be too reliant on our services should we later come to disagreement, but the offer is there."
Doubtful anyone is after us, Momoka thought. Few witnesses, in the darkness of the night, likely presumed dead if anyone even came by…
"Thank you for the offer," Shion said neutrally. "We… don't like to see it as a betrayal," she said, not offering further insight.
"Mm," Tadashi replied. "Which brings me to my last question. Why did you decide to come here, of all places?"
"Our sensei, Kobayashi Jun, wrote of Tetsuya's wit and insight, having used his services in the past," Momoka said, voice only slightly wobbling at the mention of their late instructor.
"Ahhh, Jun was your teacher?" Tadashi said. Picking up on her tone, he continued, "Is he…?"
"Dead," Kenzō confirmed, voice hard.
"Sorry to hear it. He was a good man in a world of bastards," Tadashi said, raising his glass in a small toast. "Don't expect preferential treatment or anything, but I trust his judgment when it comes to picking students. Let's get to the job offer, then."
He rose from the lounge chairs, returning to his desk and sitting down. The casual atmosphere at once melded into professional demeanor. Momoka was nonplussed at the simple act of sitting somewhere else instilling such a notable change. In spite of her prior amused thoughts about Kenzō's abilities to fake a smile, it seemed that she, too, had a long road to mastery of social cues and performance.
"I'm sure that in the time you've spent in Yamagakyō, you have come to know that the Sakamoto Samurai Clan runs this region, with their vassal Clan, the Fukuda, assisting. What you may not know is that this is a relatively recent event, taking place not long after the first Shinobi World War, which you'll note Iron did not participate in. Nonetheless, they had their own internal conflicts to concern themselves with." Tadashi idly flipped through a stack of papers before him, before continuing. "The Sakamoto are less tolerant of the Chivalrous Organization's operations than the Fukuda. The Fukuda had an understanding that certain, shall we say, 'shady dealings' are an inevitability in civilized society, and that it was ultimately to their benefit that it was under the control of someone they could reason with. This was preferable to disorganized and chaotic crime, in their view of things. The Sakamoto disagree, viewing us as an additional element of power within the region that could be wielded against them. Not entirely wrong, in fairness."
Tadashi rose up from his seat, looking at each of them. "Last month, one of our storehouses was hit by the Sakamoto, who up til this point had never taken such direct action against us. Tetsuya was stashing a decent bit of info there. Some of the stuff he can't keep locked up in the scrambled eggs he calls brains, that is. And not so long after, you three showed up. You can understand our suspicions."
"You want us to get these documents back?"
"Correct. I've had some of my other employees out searching for leads as well. Word is that they're moving the intel soon. To where, and a precise when…? We've got nothing. My best infiltrator's looking for the rat who leaked our storehouse. In the meanwhile, we need to track the movement of the goods. Oh, and try not to kill anyone if you can help it. Don't want to spark an all-out war, after all. You will be well compensated monetarily, rest assured. Beyond that, our organization, and by extension, Tetsuya, will have a much more favorable inclination to you. Are you three up to the task?"
"If you don't mind, could we have a bit of time to discuss amongst ourselves?"
"Of course. Look before you leap and all that. Nonetheless, there isn't too much time to fritter away. In Iron, we have a saying: Hesitation is the kiss of death. Use your time wisely."
And with that, they left to deliberate.
The trio are currently standing in the courtyard outside of the Pink Lotus Casino. Should you choose to accept the job, the specifics of gathering further intel on when the documents are getting moved will largely be up to you, but you can try asking for more info if you have questions.
What do you do?
[X] Get close to a Samurai guard tower and have Kenzō spy on their conversations with Stolen Whispers.
[X] Hire a sex worker to spy on Samurai clientele.
[X] Ambush a Samurai and interrogate them.
[X] Get a Samurai drunk and wheedle the info out of them.
[X] Find a bitter Fukuda and convince them to betray the Sakamoto.
[X] Write-in
I think it's okay to offer players a few different options on how to do a job that's technically open ended. Players don't always realize exactly how many options are really open to them in something as abstract as a TTRPG, so giving a big variety of suggestions will help them think more broadly, and potentially doing an option more in line with their characterization. That being said, not every suggestion needs to be equally viable, or even necessarily a good idea... :^)
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